Chapter 2
They continued to share pleasures and he stayed with her. While he was learning to ride he developed a device for Brown's head so that he could use it to direct the horse. And they started using the spear thrower from the backs of the horses. While they were out riding one day they saw some bison on the steppes and decided to go after one of them. This would be their first real hunt together as a team. Once they were on the steppes they fell in behind the herd and started closing on them. They each carried three spears in a basket on the back of the horses and also a spear thrower. As they came along side they cast a spear and made a kill. Ayla went down into the valley while Torvon started to skin and butcher the animal and came back with some poles and then pulled some skins from the baskets that were attached to Whinnies back. She started showing him how to build a pole drag that they could use to pull the animal back to the cave. They hooked the pole drag up to Whinny and she pulled it back to the valley while Ayla rode behind Torvon. It was almost dark when they got back, and she started a fire and they spent the night cutting the meat into strips for drying. She also took a roast and spitted it on the fire for their meal the next day. She brought furs down and they spent the night keeping watch on the meat. Once they had taken care of the meat they went to the stream to bathe then to the cave and as they crawled into the furs she kissed him and started pulling his leggings off. Then she took his manhood in her hand and it came to life. As tired as they both were they spent hours sharing pleasures. Later as they lay resting she said, “How far is it to where your people live? He replied, They are some days from here. We don't normally come this far west. She was speaking his language now. She looked at him and said, I think I have been blessed and I think I need to go somewhere where there are women that can help with the birthing. He said, We can leave whenever you are ready. It will not take long to reach Lion camp. They added some pack baskets to Brown's blanket and took as much dried meat as they could plus the furs were loaded on Whinnies pole drag. They blocked the back of the cave to protect their supplies while they were gone then they started out toward the east. They had been on the trail for several days when they came upon a group of people walking toward them. Getting off the horses they walked toward the people then Torvon shouted, Greetings Talut. The large red bearded man looked at him and asked, Torvon is that you. He replied, Yes Talut, and this is Ayla my future mate. The two men grasped each other by the shoulders and smiled. The large man approached Ayla with extended hands and said, I greet you Ayla in the name of Mut the Great Earth Mother. She extended the same greeting and was then introduced to Latie, Druwez, Tornec, and Barzec the other members of the party. When he ask about the horses Torvon said that they belonged to Ayla but he rode the stallion when they hunted. Then Torvon noticed a red deer just east of them. He jumped on Brown and rode toward the animal. A few minutes later he came back with the deer thrown over the horse. As soon as he stopped he and Ayla gutted the animal and started skinning and butchering it. They put the meat in the baskets and the head and skin on the pole drag. Torvon told Talut that Ayla was expecting and needed to be near other women when it was time for the birthing. He thought they might go back to their valley after the baby was born. Talut told them that they were welcome to stay at Lion camp as long as they wanted. As they followed the members they talked, Torvon said that she should not mention her connection to the clan as they would not understand. When they arrived at the camp she noticed that it was not a cave but a dwelling built into the side of a hill. Torvon had asked Talut to keep everyone away from the horses until they could get used to the people. Talut took them inside to the Mammoth hearth and told the other members that their questions would be answered later. Ayla noticed a half clan boy sitting at one of the hearths. When she made the sign Torvon looked over and saw the boy. Torvon was not the only one who saw the silent communication between the two, the boy was one and Old Mamut was the other. Mamut greeted the couple and showed them to their sleeping platform. He then signed a greeting to them. While the others were outside he told them that he had also lived with a clan, and their medicine woman Uba had set his broken arm. He had stayed with them while he healed and had hunted with them. Ayla looked at him and said, Then you are the one Iza told me about. She said that her grandmother had healed a man of the others. And that was the reason Brun had allowed Iza to take me with them. He thought you were a good man. Mamut asked, Did Brun have an older brother that was crippled Yes, replied Ayla. He was the Mog-ur and he and Iza adopted me. About that time the people started coming back in. Mamut said, We will speak later of this. Mamut was thinking about the gifts that this young woman had and wondered if she should have more training in the world of spirits. Later after they had talked about their valley and the horses and everything Mamut said it was time to let the guests get some rest. They had a restful night and the next morning Ayla was up and had tea made for those at mammoth hearth. She had also warmed up some of the bison meat that they had brought with them. The central hearth was out and Ayla got out her fire starting kit and started the fire. Mamut and Talut had watched her and Mamut asked how she had done it. She showed the camp how it was done and even gave each hearth a set to use. Wymez noticed the spears and the carriers that they had near their sleeping platform and asked about them. Torvon said it was something he had seen on his travels and had decided to try and make one. The spears were much smaller than the throwing spears they used and he wondered just how much stopping power they had. Torvon said that they had brought down a bison while hunting from horseback a few days before they left the valley. Wymez asked if Torvon would show them how it worked and he said, We could have Talut throw a spear and see if Ayla can beat his throw. Wymez laughed and said, Now, that would be something to see. They walked onto the field later and Talut threw his spear toward a target at the other end. Torvon had her step off a few more steps then throw the her spear. It arched upward and sailed past the target and Talut's spear. Everyone wanted to look at the new weapon and Torvon let them pass his around. Talut asked, How long have you been hunting with this? A few months now but we have had to practice with them. And even more when we started hunting from horseback. As they were headed back to the earth lodge they heard someone shout. Hello in the camp. They looked up and saw Danug, Deegie, Branag, Ranec, Tricie holding little Ralev walking down toward them. Torvon did not know any of the younger ones so he waited to be introduced. While everyone was moving around the lodge Ayla felt a pair of eyes on her and looked toward Lion hearth. The boy was looking at her with a sad expression on his face. She wanted to hold the boy so much because he reminded her of her son Durc. Mamut walked by and noticed and asked, Does he remind you of anyone. She replied, Yes, my son. He replied,I thought so. Then he motioned to the boy. When he got to the hearth she gave him a clan greeting sign and his eyes opened wide. And he stared as if waiting for more. Torvon saw the interaction and told her to go ahead and speak to the boy that he would handle any thing that came up. Then she sat down and signed, Greetings, Rydag. I am Ayla. The boy looked at her then returned the sign. Frebec came by and wanted to know what she was doing with the boy. She turned and said, I was greeting him in the sign language of his people. Frebec said, He is not people he is an abomination. Ayla jumped up and glared at the man saying, He is not an abomination; he is a little boy of mixed spirits! Torvon said, Where I lived people learned to speak the flathead language so we didn't have trouble because of misunderstandings. Talut and Nezzie wanted to know more about the silent language and how to speak it. Ayla said that she could teach anyone who wanted to learn. While Nezzie was sitting there Ayla gave the boy a sign and he turned to Nezzie and gave her the sign. Ayla said, Rydag says greetings my Mother I love you. She picked up the boy and hugged him to her while crying. Frebec turned and walked away saying that it was not possible to speak with ones hands. Torvon told everyone that where he lived that both peoples got along and didn't bother each other. And that the communication had saved many problems when they met, other than chance meetings they kept to themselves. The next morning Ayla, Nezzie, Talut, Latie, Ranec, Mamut and the children were out to learn the language. Ayla spent the morning teaching all the children and now Rydag could talk to them and they to him. When they took a break Ayla asked Nezzie what was wrong with the boy. She said he had a weak heart. Ayla thought for a moment then told her that she would give her some medicine that would help the heart pump better, but to give it to him morning and night. Nezzie asked, Are you a healer? Ayla replied Yes. Over the next few days Ayla, Deegie and Latie became friends. Ayla and Deegie were close in age. When she found out Ayla was going to have a baby she asked, What do you want? Ayla replied, I don't care as long as it is healthy. I think Torvon wants a boy though. When the baby is born we will go back to our valley in the west. Why would you want to live alone in a valley with no one around? Ayla replied, Because we don't like the way that the clan is treated here. The Mother created everything didn't she? Deegie replied, Yes, that is what we are taught. Ayla said, Then she had to create them as well. As she was coming into the lodge one afternoon she heard Frebec telling everyone that he didn't want that abomination or the animal lover around his family. Talut and Tulie stood up and told him that he could leave camp anytime he was ready, they would not put anyone out. He had only just been accepted at Lion camp because nobody else would accept them. It was his choice. He had stalked off while Ayla and Torvon looked on. Talut asked Ayla, Nezzie tells me you are a healer, is that true? Ayla replied, Yes it true. Mamut spoke up then and told Talut that now was not the time to bring it up. They would speak of it later and give her time to think about it. As they sat at the mammoth hearth that night Ayla felt eyes on her again. But when she looked around the only one she saw was the dark skinned man Ranec. He had been sitting in on the language lessons and was getting good with the hand signs. When she turned back to the conversation she heard Deegie say that Tholie had told them that the Sharamudoi leader's mate's daughter Jetamio had mated a man named Thonolan from the Zelandonii from the west and his brother Jondalar had mated another woman of the Sharamudoi, not long afterwards. After everyone had gone to bed Ayla sat up talking to Mamut. He told her that Talut and Nezzie wanted her to stay on as the healer on the camp since they didn't have one. He had told them he would talk to her about it and give her time to think about it. She told him the same reasons she had Deegie and that it was not possible as long as the clan were treated as animals to be shunned. She told him that if what they thought was true then the Mother had surely created everyone even the clan. Mamut agreed with her and asked, Would you allow me to adopt and train you for trips to the spirit world. You have the ability I can feel it in you. Sometime in the future you may go on a search and not be ready to handle what you see.. She replied, I don't know the spirit world and don't want to go there. Mamut replied, You may not be given a choice in the matter. At least let me train you just in case. Winter was fast approaching and she needed to find a place for the horses to stay. She had found a wooded area near the edge of camp and she thought that she and Torvon could build a shelter for them in there. When they started on it Talut and the others joined in. It was made of sticks woven between the trees and poles driven into the ground then filled in with the red mud from the stream. They used sod for the roof and put a doorway in the west side for the horses to go and come as they pleased. Ayla felt better now that the horses had a shelter where they could get out of the wind and snow. Latie and she were brushing the horses when Latie said, I want to get a little horse someday. Ayla replied, When you do just treat them as you would a baby and they will think of you as their mother. And you are in a way. They finished brushing them then walked back to the earth lodge. As they reached the lodge, Talut standing on top of it shouted and pointed to the east. Mammoth. Latie and Ayla ran to the top and watched as ten of the large animals were heading north. Talut said. Winter is close the snows are coming and we will need to hunt soon. Mamut said he would conduct a search in a few days. Afterwards Ayla went into the earth lodge and found Mamut sitting at the mammoth hearth grinding some herbs. When she asked what they were he told her that they were used for conducting searches. She told him about the root that the clan used to walk in the spirit world. She had mixed it for them at the last gathering before she had been banished from the clan. Looking at her he said, You did more than mix it didn't you. She looked down then nodded and said, Yes, but I didn't mean to. He asked, What didn't mean to do? he asked. I found some left in the bowl after they had left for the cave, and I drank it then somehow I was in the cave with them. replied Ayla. Mamut said, You followed them into the cave where they held the Mog-ur ceremony. Did they know you were there? No. she replied, Only Creb knew about it. And he was not happy about it. He took me with them but got me out before they knew I was there. That is the only time I have been in the spirit world and I do not want to go back. Mamut looked at her and said, You need to think about training anyway, you could be drawn in without being ready for it. Please, just think about the training.